A comforting hand
by ShepardFan
Summary: The night before the big battle. Shepard breaks down, and Kaidan's there to lay a comforting hand to her. A big surprise occurs.


Shepard awoke with a start. Focusing her eyes on a small model frigate Shepard realised was the Normandy as she began to clear her vision from it's blurred state by blinking repeatedly. After her vision was clear, she tried to inhale slow, deep breaths that gradually caused her heart rate to simmer back to it's normal away the images from her dream, she rose up from the bed cautiously trying not to disturb her lover, and quietly headed towards the luxurious bathroom she and her partner owned. Shepard glared at herself in the mirror which made her notice the red blood shot eyes staring back, accompanied with pink puffy cheeks. Reaching out Shepard gently turned the cold tap on and placed her shaking hands underneath in a cup type position until they filled with water, which then had been poured over the heated spectre's face.

'Calm yourself Shepard,' she thought 'it was just a dream.'

After this thought the Commander instantly had been bombarded with the horrid images of the nightmare she had been so desperate to avoid. Thousands of people screaming, crying below as she drifted away into another incident of her standing and scanning the world of Earth and watching it fall to destruction, then Thessia, then Palaven, continuously images of more and more planets falling to the hands of the Reapers. Shepard finally had enough that she collapsed to the floor, hurriedly crawled her way to the metal toilet, and heaved her insides out from the bottom of her stomach. Her hands were uncontrollably shaking on the rims of around the toilet.A dark shadow cast over her as she poured out all of her previous meals.

"Shepard!" The figure spoke with shock and concern. "What's up love?" Again with concern. Shepard turned her attention away from the toilet for a second to see Kaidan bending down towards her, placing a comforting hand on her back.

"Kaidan..." Shepard mumbled out weakly. " Go back to bed, I don't want you to see me like this."

" I've seen you in every state, determined, angry,worried,everything and if I might add naked..." Kaidan said seriously with a hint of tease at the end. Shepard smirked at this and slumped against the wall defeated as she was too exhausted from all her heaving to debate with the Major.

"You haven't answered my question." Kaidan pressed.

"It's nothing, I just...it was just a nightmare, a bad one, how stupid and selfish does that sound people are dying out there and i'm crying over a bad dream" She replied reluctantly. Kaidan pulled the Commander to her feet and held her tightly in an embrace until she stopped trembling, which he then loosened his grip a little, relieved.

"Hey babe, it's not stupid or selfish, " He reassuringly said wiping the tears from her eyes, "The dream must have been terrible if you were vomiting over it." At this, he felt Shepard nod her head against his chest, which again made Kaidan pull her tighter. He continued. " I think after all you've done you deserve to be as stupid and as selfish as you want." The Major said with a smile on his face. Shepard pulled out of his embrace slightly to look into his eyes and saw the truth behind his words, this action caused her to go into a reverie about her lover. 'How gorgeous does he look? I mean, I think he does this deliberately,to stun me with his beauty, to make me forget about bad situations. Man I could get lost in those eyes, those beautiful brown eyes with the slightest glimmer of a sparkle, the glow in them always tend to send a shiver of affection up my spine.' The Commander thought greedily.

She rushed on hastily realising she hadn't been talking for while. "It's just I keep thinking that I should have done more to help those innocent people I've left on planet to planet... I just ... just want to think that all those people are gonna be okay, and will be able to see their families again. I mean..." Shepard started to tremble again which made Kaidan pull her closer by the waist and lightly kiss the top of her head. "Are we ready to go to Earth tomorrow? Bring the fight to the reapers, as soon as we've hit the Cerberus base we're gonna go there, catalyst or no catalyst.I just want to know we're gonna be fine, that me and you are gonna celebrate and go on vacation to somewhere, just me you and no damn Reapers." Kaidan smiled at this last sentence as he thought the exact same thing about him and Shepard spending a holiday together, where Kaidan would get down on one knee and propose to the woman he loved on a romantic balcony high up a skyscraper,viewing a beautiful ocean that gently touched a lowering sunset. Shepard gently pushed Kaidan away as she reached for her tooth brush and toothpaste and began to brush her teeth determined to get the taste of vomit out of her mouth.

"I like the sound of that vacation." He answered truthfully for that's what he exactly wants. Patiently Kaidan waited for his partner to finish brushing her teeth to say his more serious answer, after she had finished her task, he turned Shepard around and placed his hands in hers while looking into Shepard's beautiful eyes and finally answered lovingly." Look Love, I know you have done everything you can, I know you don't think that but trust me you have, you just need to look into the future like you just did, don't dwell on the past, we're gonna finish this war tomorrow, bring the reapers down for all the suffering they have caused, and then we are gonna go on this vacation and crack open a bottle of serrice ice brandy" Kaidan sent a smirk to Shepard as he knew that's her favourite drink and continued. "Then we'll have a wonderful life together, kids, grand kids, old age, that sort of thing, a normal life...I love you Shepard." Kaidan finished with a kiss on his lover's lips. Shepard returned the kiss passionately and agreeably said " I know I can count on you to cheer me up, I love you too..."

The two stood there silently looking into each-others eyes for a few moments until Shepard broke the silence. "By the way you know you mentioned kids?" The Major nodded his head worryingly. " How many?" Shepard asked him with a smile across her lips.

"At least 4, but it's up to you babe."The answer came with a relieved and truthful expression on his face.

" I like the sound of that. Depends on how sexy you are after our 4th,that will depend on if we were to have another one, and obviously if I don't have too much stretch marks." Kaidan chuckled and once again pulled Shepard into a lovingly embrace and inhaled the familiar scent that was Shepard's. " You'll be beautiful no matter what babe." Shepard brushed her lips against Kaidan's and answered playfully "Flatterer."Kaidan reached his head down to Shepard's hight due to the Commander being a head smaller then him, and kissed her rather fiercely as this could be there last night together, Shepard leaned into the kiss hungrily wanting more from her lover, with this Kaidan obliged by leading a trail of kisses down the Commander's neck teasingly as he caused her to moan in pleasure. Shepard loved how soft Kaidan was when it came to this sort of thing. He swiftly picked Shepard of her feet and placed her onto the end of the bed.

'It could be your last night together just do it.' The Major thought to himself assuringly. He pressed his lips on his partner's hand and headed to the far drawers, opening the bottom draw he pulled out a very tiny black box. The Commander wandered what he was doing but waited patiently until her lover returned. ' Just do it,' The major thought to himself again. He gradually bent his knee so he was just on one knee, looked up to his lover's eyes with as much affection he could give. Swallowing hard, he began to speak the words of love to his partner "Amber Catherine Shepard, from the moment I first laid eyes on you, I couldn't help but want you more than just my commander, the time you first told me you felt the same way, it was the happiest day of my life. I was going to do this more romantically but I might not get another chance to do so. I love you. Amber will you marry me?" The commander had the expression of shock across her face with now the slight hint of a blush across her cheeks to show her embarrassment at how Kaidan proposed while she was in a tank top with unisex boxers but the glow of love in her eyes as Kaidan proposed was obvious. 'Oh no she's going to say no, how embarrassing, come on love." The major thought to himself.

"Yes." Shepard simply said. The Major smiled enthusiastically as he stood up and placed his hands on her waist lifting her into the air whilst kissing her most affectionately."Now this is the happiest day of my life!" He announced. "I love you so much, Mrs Alenko!" Shepard smiled so much at being called Mrs Alenko that the crease was now touching her eyes.

"I love you too!"

After this moment the couple had the most intimate and most passionate night of love making, the two ever had. "Now just to spend the rest of my life with you love." The commander said as she watched her fiancée sleep. 'Well that's if we survive tomorrow' she thought, but she worriedly put that matter out of her mind and fell asleep whilst being in the embrace of her lover.


End file.
